Philip: I do not understand your post. Every major religion in the world has spiritual principles. What do you think the Ten Commandments are? What do you think those pleats on your hakama represent?

What do religious principles have to do with principles that you would learn in a martial art? I'm talking about things like the centerline, enmeshing, etc. not "Thou Shalt Not..."

Principle, by definition, doesn't have to be related to religion or spirituality.

Quote:

Jon Reading wrote:

I am a libral arts graduate, but in order to graduate from college I was required to learn sciences. Why? I haven't titrated an GD thing in almost 8 years. Couldn't tell you what the atomic weight of Potassium is either. But in order for me to obtain a complete education that satisfied the academic criteria set forth by my school, I took chemistry, earth sciencs, and physics. That's why it's a complete education.

Understanding the spiritual aspects of aikido, the analogies, the psuedo-experiences are important to training. Just as important as understanding the physical techniques, body movement and strength training.

To get your degree, did you have to wear a special uniform, talk in a Japanese terms when English terms could easily be used, and talk about mysticism? Your analogy doesn't have anything to do with the topic.